Table
of Contents
- Introduction
- West LibertyHeights-Early History
- West Liberty Heights Subdivision Map
- Lot 1,
2509 West Liberty Street
- Lot 2,
730 South Maple Road
- Lot 3,
744 South Maple Road
- Lots 4 and 5,
758 and 770 South Maple Road
- Lots 6 and 7,
2527 and 2541 West Liberty Street
- Lots 8 and 9,
2553 and 2561 West Liberty Street
- Lot 10,
2569 West Liberty Street
- Lot 11,
2571 West Liberty Street
- Lots 12 to 16,
2530 to 2570 Bens Street
- Lots 17 to 33,
800 South Maple Road
- Lots 34 to 41,
2515 TO 2575 Russell Street
- Lots 42 to 55,
Part of South Maple Park
- The Surrounding Area
- Some Remaining Questions
- Sources
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West Liberty Heights, Ann Arbor, MI
Why
a West Liberty
Heights Site?
I am in love with my
house, and
enjoy living in
my neighborhood which is located on the southwest
corner of S. Maple Road and West Liberty Street in Ann Arbor,
MI. That's what
motivated me. I want to
document the neighborhood history . I want
people to know what this small corner of the world was like and what a
wonderful place it was. I welcome any additional information and
photographs that anyone can provide. This site will be updated as
I receive new information.
In the spring of
2000. I was
living just down the street at 1235 S.
Maple, when I got the house-hunting bug. I wanted an older home.
Laura, my daughter, had moved into her house at 3209 Nordman Road the
previous summer. It’s an adorable older home, with lots of character.
I wanted one too. I
began by
going to open
houses,
then hired Linda Lombardini, now at Trillium, to help me with my house
search. At this time,
the market was HOT, with homes selling very rapidly, and buyers
bidding against each other. I looked at several houses in the
$169.000-$175,000 price range but the ones I liked were gone before
Linda could put in my offer.
When Linda mentioned
2509 W.
Liberty, I checked
it
out and said that I didn’t think I wanted to live on such a busy
corner. It was strange that even though I had passed it often on
the
way to
the grocery store, I never remembered seeing it before. I asked
Terry
from next door at 2553 W. Liberty, if she had ever been inside. She
said that all she remembered was the woodwork.
So, I told Linda I
would look at
it. It was
love at
first sight. I went inside, and even though it was full of moving boxes
and in some disarray, I thought it was beautiful.
It was the nicest of
any of the
houses that I
had
seen. It was in really good shape compared to some of the others, and
had a wonderful feeling about it. I could not hear the traffic inside
and no longer cared about it anyway.
I loved the hardwood
floors, the
natural
woodwork,
the room layout, the wooded views, the upstairs hallway railing, the
plaster walls and ceilings, the front porch, and the original kitchen
cabinets (I’m still very grateful that no one had updated the
kitchen).
There was an unfinished room at the top of the stairs that I could
envision as a master bath--which I added in November 2003.
I also liked the
fact that the
cellar stairs
were
easier to negotiate (with my rheumatoid arthritis) than any of the
others that I had seen and that
there was a separate entrance to the cellar. And, the original
stove
and washing machine were still in the cellar.
I WANTED IT. It was
listed for
$175,000.
Probably
because of the location and the fact that it was a rental (no open
house) I was able to get my bid accepted before it was gone. I think I
bid $172,000. After the inspection, we negotiated, and the final price
was $169,000. I closed on May 15, 2000, and moved in around June
9. I did not have to do any interior cosmetic work right
away, and the furnace was new in 1999. I added central air, had
the
house painted, put an automatic door on the garage, made a few other
changes, and moved in.
I have enjoyed
living here ever
since. Every
day I am
still very happy to have found this house. I enjoy watching the
traffic, and the noise doesn't bother me a bit. Sometimes when I am
talking to someone on the porch, we have to pause our conversation to
let a gravel truck pass; but I don't mind. The noise is a small price
to pay for being able to afford this house. If the house were a
just a
few blocks east on Liberty, I'm sure it would be out of my price
range.
After I had lived
here for
awhile, I became
interested in finding out more about the people who built this
beautiful house and the others who lived here before me.
This site is a
result of my
research into the
history
of my home which is on Lot 1 of the West Liberty Heights
Subdivision. I
especially want to thank Glen Steinman, Benjamin and Eleanor
Steinmans' son, and
Esther Kaercher, who used to live at 744 S. Maple Road, for their
help.
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